A/N: Most of the chapters will be from Harry or Hermione's POV but I didn't want to leave Ron out so I made this one from his POV!

"Almost there!" said Ryan as they followed him down a dirty ally between two office buildings. They were in downtown Seattle and Ryan was showing them how to get to the Leaky Cauldron.

"It's very similar to your Leaky Cauldron in London, with the entrance to Firebird Alley just out back. That's where my parent's quidditch supply shop is. But let's eat lunch first, then shop, right?" Ryan asked.

Ron nodded fervently, he was starving. He wondered what kind of food American wizard restaurants served. As he was daydreaming about lunch he saw a door up ahead suddenly transform from a regular grey alley door into a forest green door. A sign for the Leaky Cauldron magically came into view over it. Instead of a witch stirring a cauldron, the sign featured a mermaid with a crown with a star, bathing lazily in the large cauldron like it was her own personal hot tub. She peered over the edge as they came closer to the door, nodded and waved with a smile.

The door unlocked itself with a click and they entered it into a bright room with wooden floors, tile walls and mismatched tables and chairs. It almost looked like a coffee shop and Ron wondered if they had come to the right place. Harry and Hermione were staring around in confusion, too, clearly expecting it to look like the old dingy bar in London they were used to.

"They have the best seafood here!" Ryan told them, not noticing their confusion. "Should I order for us? I'll get a good variety we can try."

They all agreed and went to grab a table to wait for their food while they had some drinks. Ron wasn't a huge fan of seafood, but, at least they had butterbeer, he thought as he sipped his. "So, what's the deal with the mermaid on the sign?" he asked.

Ryan laughed. "It's kind of a local joke," he said. "There's a very popular no-maj coffee shop here and their sign has a mermaid on it. When the wizards from London bought this bar and turned it into the Leaky Cauldron they couldn't help but change the sign a little to match the location. She also acts as a guard for the door, in case any no-maj tries to get in."

"Isn't the entrance protected by glamour and muggle repelling charms?" Hermione asked as she politely smiled at the waitress setting their food down. "Why would it need an extra guard?"

"Yes of course, the no-maj only see a regular ally door. If they try to get in they will just enter a long hallway to come out onto the street on the other side, right next to the coffee shop. But they can't see the green door or the sign at all." Ryan explained. "The guard is just there to make sure the no-maj don't slip in when the door is opened for a wizard. She also protects from wizards or other magical beings with bad intentions getting into the bar or Firebird Ally."

They finished their lunches and then followed Ryan out back to the entrance to Firebird Alley. On the back wall a large phoenix was carved into the concrete blocks. Ryan tapped it with his wand and it caught fire, quickly burning a hole through the blocks until they were burned away enough to form an opening for them to step through. After they walked through Ron looked back to notice the wall had already repaired itself from the fire damage. The phoenix carving was on this side of the wall as well.

"Just like a real phoenix," Harry said with a smile. Ron smiled back, knowing that even despite being in the magical world for about 10 years, his friend was still impressed when he saw new magical things, especially little details that made up their everyday life.

They spent the rest of the day meandering through the shops in Firebird Alley, replenishing their potions supplies, meeting Ryan's parents at their quidditch supply shop and buying magical cat treats for Crookshanks. Ron noticed that Firebird alley was much newer than Diagon alley. The street was much more organized and the buildings looked much nicer. It was also very crowded. Ryan explained that witches and wizards came from all over the Pacific Northwest and even some from Canada to shop here so it was usually pretty crowded, and even more so before start of school term and the holidays.

Ron also bought an owl. It was a little expensive and labeled "for international mail," but Ron was looking forward to being able to send some messages to his parents and siblings back home. Harry threw in some galleons for the owl, knowing that Ron would let him use it to send stuff to Ginny as well. Hermione didn't approve, ("Muggles don't use owls, Ron!") but Ron reminded her that the muggle post couldn't reach his parents house so any letters he sent that way wouldn't make it to his family.

The afternoon had passed quickly and soon Hermione was reminding them they had made plans with Nessie and Jake for dinner so they had to head out. As they passed back through the Leaky Cauldron Ron noticed a pile of flyers for the Halloween party Ryan had told him about and grabbed one to take home.

"Oh no, look at the time!" squeaked Hermione as they apparated back into their apartment from Firebird Alley. "They're going to be here in five minutes! Quickly, quickly, we've got to make this place muggle proof!"

Ron rubbed her back and gave her a quick kiss. "It's okay Hermione! We'll get it cleaned, don't stress, love."

They got to work putting away their purchases from the day, as well as their brooms and magical books that littered the living room. They threw everything into their bedrooms, assuming the muggles wouldn't ask to go in them so that would be the best place to hide their stuff.

Hermione was in the kitchen trying to drag their heavy cauldron into the bedroom. Ron rolled his eyes and cast Wingardium Leviosa, levitating the cauldron into the bedroom easily.

"I was trying to do it the muggle way, Ron!" Hermione said in an annoyed tone.

"Hermione, that thing is made of iron and is a size 7 cauldron! You should hardly be trying to drag it across the floor," he said. She glared at him and opened her mouth to give a retort. "I'm not saying you're not strong enough, but it'll leave a mark on the floor if you drag it," he added to placate her.

"Sorry," she said quietly. "I'm just nervous about the muggles coming over for the first time."

He put his arms around her to comfort her and she looked up and smiled at him. He leaned down to give her a kiss which quickly turned into snogging. He suddenly wished their friends weren't coming for another hour, it had been a few weeks since he and Hermione had-

"Ahem!" called Harry from the living room, interrupting them on purpose. "It's all clear out here!"

They stored their wands in their bedrooms and closed the doors just as there was a knock on the front door.

"Come in, come in!" Hermione welcomed Nessie and Jake into the apartment. "We were just about to set out some snacks and we wanted to wait for you guys to order the pizza!"

Ron smiled and showed them where to hang up their raincoats. He noticed Nessie was only wearing a thin tee shirt, and no sweater under her raincoat even though it was quite chilly. Her arms were the shocking white he remembered and for some reason caused him to take a step back. He did like Harry and Hermione's friends from school, but sometimes Nessie made him a little uncomfortable and he couldn't figure out why.

He turned to Jake to ask him what they liked on his pizza.

"Oh whatever you guys like is fine! We pretty much eat anything," he replied with a grin. Ron felt he and Jake could be great friends, bonding over their love of food.

Hermione put out chips and salsa and some sodas that were newly discovered to Ron. He really loved American soda, especially Dr Pepper, which he had mistakenly taken as a pepper up potion the first time he saw it in the refrigerator. Harry taught Nessie and Jake how to play snap, although the muggle version wasn't as fun as the exploding version in Ron's opinion.

They ate their pizza, played cards and talked and laughed. Ron noticed Nessie didn't seem to eat much, but Jake ate everything off her plate that she hadn't touched. Nessie insisted on seeing pictures of Harry's girlfriend, and thankfully he had some muggle appropriate photos on his cell phone that weren't moving to show her. The evening was pretty relaxed and easy until Nessie brought up Halloween.

"Do you guys have plans?" she asked. " We were thinking about going to a party at this secret bar we found! I think it's called a 'speakeasy' and the flyer we saw made it look like it was a magic dress up theme! At least that's what the people on the flyer looked like!"

Ron gulped, thinking to the bright orange flyer he had stashed in his nightstand drawer. It didn't say anything about a theme, but the flyer featured drawings of witches and wizards flying around on brooms drinking from Fire Whiskey bottles.

Harry, who hadn't seen the flyer yet since they were in such a rush to clean up, didn't notice Ron's discomfort. "Oh that sounds fun," Harry said with a friendly smile. "But, we've already made plans with our friend Ryan that night." He didn't offer any more explanation which was a good move Ron thought, because it didn't leave room for more questions or an opening for them to be invited along. Which they most certainly could not.

"Well, that sounds fun," replied Nessie with a tight smile, clearly understanding the subtlety of Harry's response. "We can meet up another time then, no worries! Actually, we wanted to invite you to something else as well, which is much more important! We figured since you're British and don't have any family here you might not have any plans for Thanksgiving? We'd love to have you come home with us for Thanksgiving break in November, if you're interested!"

Ron saw Hermione's face brighten up with excitement. "To your family's home? In Forks?" she asked.

"Yes!" Nessie laughed. "I'm sure our families would love to meet you!"

Ron, Hermione and Harry exchanged looks and nodded to each other. "We're in!" said Ron.

The morning of Halloween was cool and crisp. Perfect autumn weather, Ron thought, not quite as cold as Scotland but still with that brisk "autumn" feel to the air. He finished up a letter to his parents, describing everything that had happened recently including his job at the coffee shop and explaining in detail to his dad how the coffee machines worked. He sealed the letter and added it to the small package of American sweets Harry had bought for Ginny. He tied them both to their owl, Owliver, and reminded him to take it to the Burrow in Ottery St Catchpole, Devon, UK. Owliver hooted in a reassuring way and took off out of the window for his long flight.

"Are you guys gonna dress up tonight?" he asked Harry and Hermione. This had been a topic of conversation the past few weeks because they didn't know how wizards dressed in America and every time they'd seen Ryan they'd all been in muggle clothing or quidditch gear.

"Yeah I think I will wear robes. After all, Halloween is kind of a big deal," said Harry.

Hermione nodded. "Me too. But only to the party. And we should apparate directly there so no muggles see us!"

"Hermione, you worry too much! It's Halloween! Plenty of people will be dressed up, even if they see us in our robes they'll just think it's a Halloween costume." said Ron.

"But still… it would make me more comfortable if we did it properly." she replied. Ron and Harry agreed, not wanting to start an argument over something so small.

After dinner they changed into their dress robes and apparated to the hidden apparation point near the entrance to Leaky Cauldron that Ryan had shown them. The mermaid on the sign smiled at them and unlocked the door with a wave.

The place was packed with witches and wizards of all ages, almost all of which were wearing robes of various colors. Ron hadn't really expected anything less, but was relieved they wouldn't stand out all the same. The walls were decorated with orange and black streamers and carved jack-o-lanterns sat in the middle of all the tables. Spectral bats flew around the ceiling, weaving in and out of the chandeliers. A large cauldron stood in the corner with a bubbling potion that emitted a sparkly fog that changed color every so often. The effect was to make the room feel spooky, but also festive at the same time.

They made their way over to the bar to meet Ryan and his friends. Ron recognized a few of them from their quidditch game earlier that month and said hello. Ryan was wearing his red and blue robes open with a Washington Willatuk's quidditch tee shirt underneath. He introduced them all around, leaving Harry for last.

"And this is Harry Potter!" he exclaimed in a fake bragging voice, clearly trying to embarrass his friend. "You know, the youngest seeker in a century, slayer of dragons and conqueror of the darkest wizard of all time!"

"And engaged to my sister," Ron loudly added, giving pointed looks to a couple of witches who were eying Harry with great interest. Everyone laughed.

"A round of Jiggle Juice on me!" declared Ryan, passing out small cups with a hot pink substance in them. Ron stared down into his shot cup and noticed it wasn't liquid, but it also wasn't fully solid. Ryan gave a toast to Halloween and they all threw back their shots. Or they tried to, at least. Ron, Harry and Hermiones shots were still stuck in their cups. The three of them looked around, confused and slightly embarrassed.

"Oh sorry!" said Ryan. "Have you never had Jiggle Juice before? You have to loosen it around the edges first with your finger," he explained.

"It's like jelly!" exclaimed Hermione with delight as they finally did their shots. It tasted exactly like what Ron thought a hot pink colored shot would taste like. "I'd like another please!" she added.

Ryan chuckled and handed Hermione another shot. "Don't do too many, though," he warned. "They're stronger than butter beer, that's for sure!"

Ron put down his shot cup and took the glass of firewhiskey Harry was handing him. "Cheers mate!" he said, raising his glass to Harry. As he took a sip he turned to get a better look around the bar. In the corner opposite the foggy cauldron was a small group of hags, drinking beers. On the other side of the room sat a very hairy, very tall man that Ron was pretty sure was a sasquatch. In the middle of the room there was a dance floor packed with witches and wizards. And right there in the midst of it all, dancing away to the Weird Sisters song blasting out of the wizards wireless, were Jake and Nessie. Nessie was wearing a green and silver fairy costume complete with wings and a tiara, and Jake was dressed up like a pirate. They looked extremely out of place, but not at all uncomfortable.

He almost dropped his firewhiskey in shock. He elbowed Hermione and she followed his stare over to the dancing couple. Her mouth dropped open in shock but before either of them could utter a word, a very drunk young wizard began making a scene. He was yelling at another wizard about stealing his girlfriend and then threw a punch, breaking his opponent's nose. The other guy pushed him hard and the drunk wizard fell back, hitting his head on a table corner and cutting it open, blood spraying everywhere.

Everyone was paying attention to the fight, commenting about "no-maj dueling techniques," but Ron's eyes were still on Nessie and Jake. They had both stopped dancing and Nessie stood frozen, unnaturally still. They were fairly close to the fighting wizards and blood was splattered across the fairy wings on Nessie's costume. She turned to look at Jake with wide eyes, grabbed his arm and whirled around to leave, moving faster than Ron had ever seen a human move on two feet.

"We'll be right back!" he called to Harry, as Hermione turned to follow Nessie and pulled him along. They stepped out into the muggle alley and Ron saw a pair of green fairy wings discarded in the gutter. Hermione called down the alley to Nessie and Jake, who stopped and waited for them to catch up.

"Funny seeing you here!" Nessie said with a nervous smile. "Thought you had plans with your friend Ryan?"

"Yes, we met him here, what a weird coincidence," replied Hermione. "But listen, are you okay? You ran out before we could say hello and no offense but you don't look so well."

"Oh yeah I'm fine. I just really hate seeing blood. It makes me… sick," Nessie explained.

"Oh I see. Well, I hope you feel better, we'll see you later this week?" Hermione said.

Nessie nodded, politely said goodbye and her and Jake turned to go. Ron looked over at Hermione and she was staring after them with a frown.

"What do you think that was all about?" he asked.

"I dunno," she replied. "It's a bit odd isn't it? How could they see the bar in the first place? Maybe they snuck in behind some wizards?" She shook her head and added "It doesn't seem possible but... I guess it doesn't really matter does it? We're supposed to be learning about muggles, not investigating oddities."

"Hey what's going on?" asked Harry as he walked up behind Ron.

"We saw Nessie and Jake in the bar," Ron explained. "Before we could talk to them, the fight broke out and they basically fled the room. Nessie said seeing blood makes her feel sick."

"Oh, okay," replied Harry. "Wait, how did they even get into the bar? That's kind of strange. But, ugggh why does stupid shit always happen? Can't we just have a normal evening?"

Hermione nodded. "I agree! I'm sure there's a perfectly normal explanation and we don't need to overthink it. Should we return to the party?"

They went back inside to rejoin the party, forgetting about Nessie and Jake for the evening as they danced and drank firewhiskey with Ryan and his friends.

But, later that night at home in bed Ron reflected back on the evening and Hermione and Harry's easy dismissal of the randomness of Nessie and Jake being there. Ron, however, remained slightly uncomfortable. If he had learned one thing about odd occurrences in the past years it was that there was almost never a perfectly normal explanation.